The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 6.24 MrBeast Anti-Trans Culture War Sparked in Messy Fallout of DrDisrespect Accusations & Defense

Episode Date: June 24, 2024

PDS Debt is offering a free debt analysis. It only takes thirty seconds. Get yours at https://PDSDebt.com/defranco Get in on the https://BeautifulBastard.com Flowers Drop before your size sells out S-5XL! ==== ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩- – 00:00 - MrBeast Defends Ava Tyson  04:02 - Dave Grohl Faces Backlash For Apparent Dig At Taylor Swift 06:18 - Parisians Threaten to Poop in River Ahead of Olympics 08:12 - Sponsored by PDS Debt 09:01 - Social Security Changing Database To Ease Disability Benefit Applications 11:44 - UK Election Betting Scandal Grows 13:55 - Comment Commentary  ——————————   Produced by: Cory Ray Edited by: James Girardier, Maxwell Enright, Julie Goldberg, Christian Meeks, Matthew Henry Art Department: William Crespo Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Brian Espinoza, Lili Stenn, Maddie Crichton, Chris Tolve, Star Pralle, Jared Paolino ———————————— #DeFranco #MrBeast #DrDisrespect ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There's been some wild allegations getting thrown out left and right over the weekend, with those and the back and forth and all the fallout being one of the most requested stories to talk about today. At the center of all this, you have Mr. Beast, Ava Tyson, Dr. Disrespect, Nick Merckx, a bunch of names that you may or may not be familiar with. As far as Mr. Beast, obviously biggest creator in the world, Ava Tyson's been a part of the Mr. Beast crew from the beginning, With Mr. Beast having to once again, like he's done in the past throughout her transition,

defend Ava online. With his most recent example of that stemming from a video posted by Nick Merckx. And he's a very big gaming streamer though. I would say definitely over this past year with more and more of his anti-trans talk, he's gotten a lot more attention. And he tweeted to Ava,

you should be ashamed of yourself, leaving behind your wife and child to play pretend. One day you'll wake up and realize what you've done. Or which was his reaction to a tweet from Ava earlier, saying me every time I post on Twitter. I'll mention her. He, they, she, she, hey, they. And so Nick's tweet, it garnered a lot of reactions,

including from Ava herself, who replied the quote, protect the kids crowd when someone is a loving parent versus when their boy is currently facing essay accusations. Right, and that seemingly referencing the fact that Nick Merckx has been defending Dr. Disrespect against recent allegations that he was inappropriately messaging a minor, right? Because it was a claim from a former Twitch employee over the weekend that Doc was permanently banned from Twitch because that happened. With Dr. Disrespect responding to that multiple times over the weekend

saying, I get it, it's a hot topic, but this has been settled. No wrongdoing was acknowledged and they paid out the whole contract. And later tweeting, listen, I'm obviously tied to legal obligations from the settlement with Twitch, but I just need to say what I can say since this is the fucking internet. I didn't do anything wrong. All this has been probed and settled. Nothing illegal. No wrongdoing was found and I was paid. Elden Ring Monday. And today during that live stream, he said, for those that are looking me to expand on what I said this weekend, that's not happening. Saying that he said what he already needed to say and adding, I don't give a fuck about this guy, that's it. That said, going back to the Ava and Nick Merck stuff,

you know, one of the biggest responses there was from MrBeast himself. Saying Ava is literally always with her kid and doesn't even go on shoots to spend more time with them. Tuckman is always smiling, not sure why this rumor is a thing. And as you can imagine, when the biggest creator on the platform

chimes in on something, it becomes an even bigger conversation. Whether it be people on the side of how dare MrBeast say that, or upset with the fact chimes in on something, it becomes an even bigger conversation. But there be people on the side of, how dare Mr. Beast say that? They're upset with the fact that he's friends with, supports, and features a trans woman in his content. But this is there were also a ton of others loving what Mr. Beast said here. Saying things like his constant defense of Ava is very nice to see. Saying this matters especially for the next generation. Arguing with Jimmy's influence and reach to young boys, this stuff is going to be his most important legacy. And others coming in saying,

I know some will say, oh, this is just the bare minimum, but I feel like in today's climate, having one of the most famous people on the planet stand up for his friend and supporting her identity and existence is extremely important and impactful. And actually the proof of this climate and of the fact that Mr. Beast really is doing something that can make a difference or challenge people's belief

is the amount of transphobia in his replies. Or just the sheer number of people saying vile things about him and Ava everywhere online. And with that, Ava even writing, they just want to villainize trans people. They realize and accept that I'm in my child's life arguably more than most parents are able to be. They say I'll ruin him or far worse things. They don't actually care. They want to move the goalposts so they can go see trans people back. This whole situation got so big and it spread so wide that Ava's ex even had to chime in. Katie, Ava's ex and co-parent releasing a statement saying, there are plenty of other things in this world to talk about other than a four-year-old who will one day see all of this.

Our lives are the best they've ever been and Tucker is loved and cared for by both parents and in both homes and is thriving. I don't know who Nick is and I don't care who he is, but as a parent himself, is this the example we want to set for our children? When we don't agree with someone, we bash them, their families, drag others, children through the trenches by spreading false information about their lives. Be better. Set better examples. But ultimately, as a filming, that is where we are with this. And of course, like with all our stories, because this is a news show, but I also want it to be a conversation, I'd love to hear from you in those comments down below. Where do you stand on this and why? Also, I should say, hi,

welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show. You daily dive into the news. I hope you had a good weekend, especially because there's a lot of news we gotta dive into. So just make sure you subscribe, sit back, and let's jump into it. This is a news show.

And then for one of the lighter stories today, let's talk about one of the most random pieces of celebrity drama news I've seen in a minute. Dave Grohl versus Taylor Swift. Although I guess proximity might be at play here because while the Foo Fighters had a show in London, they weren't alone because Taylor Swift's Erez tour has taken over Wembley Stadium. Dave mentioning Taylor while on stage. Tell me the name, and you don't want to suffer the wrath of Taylor Swift. So we like to call our tour, The Heiress Tour. We've had more than a few heiresses, and more than a few heiresses as well. That's because we actually play live.

What? And so a lot of people were surprised by that. Not only because it sounded like he was implying she doesn't play or sing live so a lot of people were surprised by that. Not only because it sounded like he was implying she doesn't play or sing live, but also because Dave is usually known as one of the kindest people in the industry and he's actually spoken highly of Taylor Swift in the past, which is why he saw Swifties take to Twitter to say,

I used to love this man so much, but what the fuck? What has she ever done to him? Does he hate successful women? And why did he have to say that in a stadium full of people? And I'm just saying, this is so strange and out of left field because out of all the things you can criticize Taylor Swift for, and there are many, many things,

this one just isn't up for debate, right? Some even sharing clips of Taylor messing up as proof that she's singing live. And actually because of those mistakes, her fans have called it the errors tour for a year now. Though this, as others have defended Dave Grohl, saying it was a harmless joke that wasn't even meant to be about Taylor's musical abilities.

Though some adding, even if it was, Dave Grohl, one of the finest and most prolific musicians still working, can make a little joke about one of the richest women alive without it being that deep. And this is others said that maybe he felt compelled to go after her because earlier this year, his daughter tweeted about Taylor's jet use and Swifties apparently attacked her for that. But to that, you have people saying that would only justify him saying something related to travel and the environment. It doesn't justify an artist making a disrespectful and incorrect claim about another artist's art. Now, for her part, you know,

Taylor hasn't issued a statement on this, though during her London show on Sunday, she did take a moment to say, I bring to my band members every single one of our crew. The band's going to be playing live for three and a half hours tonight. They deserve this so much. Overall, I don't know. It feels like it's going to be a momentary blip of drama,

especially because over the weekend, many Swifties, including my wife, they either didn't notice or didn't want to give any energy to the Dave Grohl situation. And instead, we're just fawning over Travis Kelsey being on stage with Taylor. And then, these are probably the weirdest words I've ever said in a video before.

We are about to witness a mass defecation event. It's at an Olympic level, no less. Because for the Summer Olympics next month, they're going to be holding their opening ceremony and their swimming events in the Seine River in Paris. Or at least, they're supposed to. Because the problem is, so far, months of testing have found contamination by sewage and wastewater. Or in cruder terms, just, you know, human shit. With Surfrider Foundation Europe, a water charity, saying 14 tests of samples taken between September and March showed alarming levels of bacteriological pollution. And that same group, again, finding pollution levels

three times the accepted standard in May. And then another series of tests in mid-June, finding that water was too polluted to host the swimming events. So there, you had an official saying that the heavy rains they experienced, they worsened the results. And claiming that the weather,

it should be different by the time the games begin. One of the things that's so wild here, this is even after the French government has already spent nearly $1.5 billion trying to clean the river. Also a fun thing is that the French president and the mayor of Paris, they were like, "'Hey, we are so confident that the water's clean.

"'We will actually swim in it to prove that it's safe.'" Thing is though, they were supposed to do that yesterday, and then they just magically canceled their plans, with them notably citing only political reasons. So that may or may not have to do that yesterday and then they just magically canceled their plans, with them notably citing only political reasons. So that may or may not have to do with a little protest that's happening. Because you might have seen this hashtag that translates to, I shit in the Seine on June 23, recently going viral. That's stepping from a website that popped up urging people to poop in the river to protest. And it even has a calculator so you can enter how far you live from central Paris and it'll tell you exactly when you need to go to the bathroom to reach the spot

where the politicians would have jumped in at noon yesterday, which is something the computer engineer who built out this website said started as a joke, but it's unclear how many people took it as a serious call to action. By the way, the water is gonna be tested during the Olympics each day at 3 a.m. before any events go ahead.

And I'm sure the people that are in charge, they will make sure it's clean and or might see and get to talk about a lot of Olympians get in a case of the shits and maybe pink eye. Fun times. Yeah, there's a lot of weirdness at this Olympics. And then getting into credit card debt is so easy. Getting out though, I mean, the system's built so that we don't. And if you're struggling with credit card debt, personal loans, collections, medical debt, you got to check out the sponsor of today's show, PDS Debt. Right, PDS Debt provides a service

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a free debt analysis. It only takes 30 seconds, so just head on over to pdsdebt.com slash DeFranco. You'll receive a full breakdown on how to save on interest each month and the quickest way to take care of your debt. So just go to pdsdebt.com slash DeFranco and get your quick and easy debt assessment today. Because nobody likes the stress of mounting debt and the pressure that comes with that. So regain control of your life and live for you, not for your debt. And then you probably already know, or at the very least, you could imagine that getting something from the government

that they are supposed to give you, it is stupid hard. But that is especially true for disability benefits. You gotta prove you're disabled, prove you're so disabled you can't work, prove you have no money, prove, prove, prove. With all this stuff that requires all this paperwork and you're left waiting months, if not years. And on the other end of this,

you got this social security administrator that's looking for any and every reason not to give you what they're supposed to give you. And I want to talk about one of the ways they do this, because what they'll do is they'll say, hey, there's actually a job you can do and it's available in significant numbers. And with that, they'll consult this list of 13,000 jobs known as the Dictionary of Occupational Titles. But here's the catch, y'all, a vast majority of those have not been updated since 1977. So this list includes so many jobs that have virtually disappeared from the American economy, either thanks to automation or outsourcing.

With them listing jobs like nutsorter, which was an actual job and not just your mom's nickname in college. As well as egg processor, reptile farmer, banking pin adjuster, pneumatic tube operator, and dowel inspector. What is a dowel? Is that like, that's a stick, right?

It's like a butter thing? Oh, like a wood rod or the thing that breaks in every piece of Ikea furniture I've ever owned. Noted. Maybe we need dowel inspectors, at least for Ikea furniture. But the main point being, these are just a few of the jobs. And the thing is, social security vocational experts routinely cite about 137 of these unskilled sedentary occupations

at the final step of the review process to deny claims. So also even if those jobs still existed, it doesn't mean that disabled people could still do them. For example, you've got this one guy who suffers from violent tremors after he had a stroke and he got denied because the expert claimed he could be a nut sorter. With him telling the Washington Post,

"'Honestly, if they could see my shaking, "'they would see I couldn't sort any nuts. "'I'd spill them all over the floor. And the system is all the more absurd because social security officials hired the Bureau of Labor Statistics to compile a new list in 2012, but they still don't use it for some reason.

And that, even though they have somehow racked up over $300 million in costs so far, with them also adding another 30 million every year, which is an absolutely disgusting amount of money to just waste and not accomplish anything. But it's made even worse when you think that's money that could have gone to helping disabled people that are being fucked right now.

The money just got thrown into the gasoline laden dumpster that's on fire known as bureaucracy. But all of that brings us to the announcement that we got today with Biden's social security commissioner, Martin O'Malley saying the agency eliminated 114 of the most frequently cited and outdated occupations from the database. And with that, you have an attorney telling the Post, this will be a really big deal for disability claimants.

I could tell you stories about the psychological impact it has on disability claimants when they learned they lost their claim that they waited years on. All because somebody said they could do a job that doesn't exist. So if you are, or you know someone that's one of the thousands of people that have been affected by this,

now would be the time to take another crack at it. And then let's talk about this UK political scandal. Because what better way to distract ourselves from our own political clusterfuck than to talk about someone else's? Right, because we've now learned that a fourth member of the country's conservative party is under investigation. And the BBC reporting, there may be even more we don't know about. You know, all of this is set to shape what was already set to be a historic British election. With the whole thing going back to when the British PM, Rishi Sunak, called for a snap election to take place on July 4th, which was an announcement that didn't just surprise the public,

but also many members of his own party. Though somehow, despite that, a guy by the name of Craig Williams had the idea to bet a hundred pounds on Sunak calling a July election three days before he ever made the announcement. And the big problem with that is Williams is not just some guy. He is literally Sunak's closest parliamentary aide. And in fact, since then, we've learned that he is just one of now several people connected to Sunak or his party who made similar bets. There was Tory candidate Laura Sanders

and her husband, Tony Lee, the party's director of campaigning. There was also an unidentified police officer who was part of Sunak's security team. And now there's Nick Mason, the chief data officer for the conservative party. Now the thing with this is we're not talking about massive amounts of money.

Williams' 100 pound bet could have had a payout of 500 pounds. And overall, dozens of bets placed on the July election may have only resulted in winnings worth a few thousand. But no matter how small a spokesperson for the UK's gambling commission has made it a point to say that using confidential information to gain an unfair advantage when betting

may constitute an offense of cheating under section 42 of the Gambling Act, which is a criminal offense. And at that point, the police officer who worked for Sunak has already been arrested. But then beyond that, like politically speaking, this whole thing has made it so that the conservative party's prospects, which were already bad, it now appears hopeless.

Because when Sunak called for the elections, people were like, oh, this is gonna be bad. But now it seems like thing after thing keeps happening and you have people going, this is gonna be a bloodbath. With some of the latest numbers suggesting that conservatives may go from having 344 seats in the House of Commons to just 87. Like I always say, you know, polls are polls.

Action is action. We have to wait to see, always go out and vote. Unless these polls were done in the most brain dead way possible, I don't see them overcoming this gap. With this election not only ending the conservatives 14 year reign of power, but the smart money is unless something else happens,

them leaving this election with the least amount of influence they have had in decades. And then, then finally today we've got announcement and I wanna talk about the comments on the last show. Starting with the announcement, we haven't done this in a while. A few shows ago, I was lamenting that Knowing Stuff sucks, which a number of you all beautiful bastards said,

I want that on a shirt. Well, I haven't done that in a while. I figured, fuck it. On our brand new buttery smooth, fantastic fitting, beautiful bastard tees, a few Knowing Stuff sucks jumbo prints. Those will only be available for 48 hours. You can also, if you want,

grab what's left of the last flowers drop. We will say more and more sizes have been selling out over the weekend. So yeah, grab those over at beautifulbastard.com while you can. It's also a great way to support the show. But then, like I said, let's talk about your comments on the last video, right?

Comment commentary, because y'all had a lot to say. Starting with y'all's comments about the Just Stop Oil situation, where the protesters were targeting Taylor Swift's jet, ended up just getting some other jets. And in general, they got a lot more support than usual, with folks like Camoli writing,

Just Stop Oil actually hit the nail on the head with this one. That commentator said it best, don't do a complicated metaphor, call out specific people and actions. With Miles Bennett responding and adding, just stop disrupting people who are trying to get by, extremely annoying. And others adding, people have been saying this for years,

but the Just Stop Oil people prefer to be a nuisance to everyday people instead. Though I will say there are people that dispute those criticisms. Because one of the arguments that pop up is like when they do something like they, you know, they throw something on a painting. A part of the message there is that a good number

of people will get more enraged about that. There's many things not getting damaged. Just like the potential that something like that could happen to like a work of art or a landmark. With that, I would say one of the things where their supporters would defend them there is that whether it be the jet thing, what happened at Stonehenge,

them throwing something on famous artwork. One, the point is to just get any attention because that can lead to the messaging getting out there more. But also two, arguing that part of the message, it's not a metaphor, it's pointing out that a lot of people will get enraged about people's work days getting inconvenienced or messed up or the potential of something that exists in the past

getting messed up compared to the silence and or inaction regarding saving the planet. And that's something I just wanted to add there because while in general, most people have been annoyed by the group, that's not the universal reaction. And the comments were a bit one-sided on that. And I kind of wanted to make note of what's being said elsewhere. Then there were definitely no shortage of comments regarding Kendrick, Lamar, and Drake. Brent saying, seeing videos of Kendrick singing Not Like Us five times in a row is insane. The shade is astronomical and entirely necessary. And I think Drake introing it with, I see dead people, was just another nail in Drake's coffin. And while with that, you know, I've been among the majority saying Kendrick Lamar has absolutely smashed Drake throughout this entire thing, especially so with that live event. We won't know for a while if the death of Drake's career,

like if that has been wildly overstated or not. Because without a doubt, going into this beef, Drake has a ton of fans. Well, he definitely took a hit from this back and forth. I think a lot of Drake fans right now are just a little quieter. And as far as the actual long-term impact here, it's going to come down to whatever his next big release is. So again, while beefs happen, this is a bit unprecedented as far as a whole situation. Like I don't think there's been another situation where millions of people are sing-songing, accusing someone of being a pedophile. That could have a much longer lasting impact than You Have a Secret Son. But then finally, there were a ton of comments around the situation in Missouri, where you have the DOJ saying,

they're just slamming a lot of disabled adults into nursing homes. So folks like Yepitsmora sharing, my mom lives in Missouri, she's 60, had a heart attack earlier this year, insurance wanted to put her in a nursing home right away. My aunt fought for my mom to go into physical therapy, and now my mom lives on her own and is fully functioning.

Scary to think so many people are just left to rot in nursing homes because they are not equipped to take care of everyone who is left there. Meanwhile, you had Brennan Hearn saying, "'I'm 34 years old. "'I spent eight months in a nursing home in 2021.'" With that saying, they only needed to actually be there

for four of those months. "'I have recurring multiple sclerosis. "'My family, total pieces of shit, "'decided they were done with me "'even though the job I had "'would have been happy to have me back. "'After that eight months, "'I spent two months in a retirement home

"'where I realized they'd abandoned me. "'I don't have PTSD from being in the Navy. "'I have PTSD from being in a nursing home. And finally, Shannon saying, Missouri resident here, I work for a nonprofit where part of our mission includes providing some support to people with a variety of disabilities. And I can confirm the infrastructure is abysmal.

So many adults with physical and mental disabilities not only face things as extreme as having their agency taken away from them, but encounter extreme roadblocks at basically every level. But that, my friends, is where your Monday, evening, Tuesday morning dive into the news is gonna end. I can already tell there's gonna be so much we gotta talk about tomorrow,

so just remember, my name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in. I love yo faces, and I'll see you right back here tomorrow. I love yo faces.